Cregmore N.S. Girls Basketball Blitz 23rd May 2023
On Wednesday, 15th May, our Girls Basketball Blitz took place in our school hall and we were delighted once again, to be able to organise and host this event. This year was our biggest event to date with one hundred and ten girls, from local schools, getting a chance to participate in a full day of basketball and fun.
The tournament is in its 14th year now and has gone from strength to strength since it was first established in 2008. There are very few basketball competitions for primary school girls in the area and this competition gives them a great introduction to the game. What began as a very small local schools competition has now grown to one of the biggest events of its kind in the area and is supported by Basketball Ireland. The aim is to encourage primary school girls to play basketball and to provide them with a platform to showcase their skills and talents. This year Basketball Ireland supported the event and provided us with lovely prizes including basketballs, training sets and t-shirts for the three Most Valuable Players (MVPs) of the tournament. Big thanks to Mike Murray Basketball Ireland for supporting our event again this year. We were delighted to welcome Kara Mc Cleane, a senior international player, to assist with refereeing and the presentation of medals and to Paul O’Brien, Current head coach of NUIG Mystics Womens Super League team and current coach of underage international Basketball also.
This year twenty six very competitive games were played, with over one hundred girls from ten primary schools around Galway participating in the Blitz. The schools included Cregmore N.S., Lackagh N.S., Coolarne N.S., Athenry N.S., Oranmore N.S., Craughwell N.S., New Inn N.S., Newcastle N.S., Bawnmore N.S. & Newtown N.S.. The ten schools competed in a number of games throughout the day for the Shield and Final Four Competitions. Newtown defeated St. Oliver’s, Newcastle in a very competitive Shield final. Both teams were keen to give it their all and the atmosphere was electric. After a great display of basketball Newtown N.S. came out on top.
Cregmore, Oranmore, Coolarne and Craughwell were successful in reaching the Final Four Competition. Cregmore played Craughwell and managed to beat them by a narrow margin.
Oranmore defeated Coolarne which left them to play Cregmore in the Cup Final. A very exciting final was played where Cregmore N.S. came out victorious against Scoil Mhuire, both sides showing superb skills on the court. The Cregmore girls were delighted to win on their home turf and it was their first time winning in a number of years. Medals, trophies & MVPs were presented to the winners and runners up of both the Shield and Final Four Competition.
We were delighted for one of our team from Cregmore, Grace, receive an MVP, well done to her. It was brilliant to see over one hundred girls from schools around the county getting to socialise together and display their talents in basketball. Competition coordinators Anna Marie Coyle & Michelle Fahy thanked all the girls for participating and encouraged them to continue playing in secondary school and to perhaps consider joining their local clubs. Nobody went home empty handed and following the presentation of the trophies and medals, all participating girls received a goodie bag to send them home happy.